CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST

Is Mutula Kilonzo speaking for the coalition government? Or is the justice minister going out on a limb when he says that there is no way Kenya is going to be able to try those suspected of fomenting and inciting the post-election violence? This week, Kilonzo said he would write and inform the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, that the Kenyan government could not meet a Sept. 30 deadline to set up a local mechanism to try the suspects. "The country must come to terms that calls for Hague is now real. We will not ask for more time for creation of local tribunal. We want to move forward, we have a lot of other work to do," he said.
Kilonzo has been out of tune with President Mwai Kibaki before. After Kibaki announced in late July that Kenya would try the suspects in local tribunals and use the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, Kilonzo said that the latter did was not equipped to try those alleged to have fanned and financed the violence, which killed around 1,500.
Whether Kilonzo is positioning himself for a post-Kibaki era or acting without ulterior motives, he has won some praise for urging the ICC to move in. He has reportedly also been receiving death threats, although it is not clear from whom or exactly why.
Moreno-Ocampo is in the United States this week to meet State Department officials and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And the U.S. ambassador in Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, is expected to make a "major announcement" today on U.S. actions to push for reforms. He has previously said that the U.S., despite not being a signatory to the ICC, will support its action in Kenya and warned on Monday that the U.S intended to impose smart sanctions on Kenyan leaders.
These leaders already seem to be feeling the freeze. Prime Minister Raila Odinga was supposedly due to join a lunch meeting by African leaders with Obama this week, but was allegedly disinvited. An unnamed U.S. policymaker put the confusion down to "an embarrassing error by an overzealous official." Ranneberger said the cancellation was because of a techncial issue and was not related to Kenya's record in fighting corruption. But you do wonder if there is a reason that Obama seems unwilling to be seen with Odinga. Maybe today's "major announcement" from Ranneberger will clarify things?
Ocampo is reported to have said last week that he wants to make Kenya an example of the costs of impunity. Those Kenyans who believe their names to be on a list of suspects that he has received from a Kenyan investigating commission must be feeling nervous. Ocampo apparently wants to meet with Kibaki and Odinga soon. Perhaps that will be the next step on this somewhat slow road to justice.